Sub-woofer fast enough for Horns?

When people refer to "fast and slow" in relation to a speaker, they are referring to the dynamic speaker driver's ability to respond instantaneously and accurately to the signal provided at any exact moment in time.

How well it performs in this regard is largely determined by the mass of teh cone. All cone movements are affected by inertia and therefore must have some amount of temporal delay in responding to the signal at any particular instant as a result. That tendency in general can be described as "slowness". Larger, more massive drivers, like those in subwoofers, will be the most affected compared to to others. Smaller low mass cones, like those used generally in tweeters and midrange drivers, are less effected by inertia and hence tend to be inherently "faster".

Other factors of speaker design and tolerances may come into play, like damping factor, but I think size and mass of teh cone and relationship to inertia is the main one. Planars, electrostatic, ribbon type drivers tend to suffer less from effects of mass and inertia and tend to sound "fast" in that they are able to respond to signal changes more instantaneously in general than most dynamic drivers.

Another exception might be a transmission line style Walsh dynamic driver, where much of the sound is produced via "wave bending" principles as described by the original designer, Lincoln Walsh, rather than pistonic type driver movements, where the mass of teh speker normally comes more into play I would think.

Tweeters and midrange drivers tend to have low mass compared to woofers and subwoofers in particular. HEnce the perceived difference possible when using a sub with speakers that are relatively "fast" in of themselves.

Compression drivers used often in horns are generally also very low mass and inherently "fast", so matching subs with those in particular to get coherent sound top to bottom might be a somewhat more difficult challenge.

Speaker systems that are "fast" may or may not sound "coherent" top to bottom as well, in that other factors like crossover design and performance come into play there as well.

If you have a speaker that is both "fast" and "coherent", then I would say you really have something special that might also possibly sound particularly "musical" compared to others! Make it "full range" to-boot, and bingo!

One of the most knowledgable sub designers is Tom Danley who developed the phenomenal servo belt driven driver motor. If anybody can speak to the original posters question I'd suggest him.

http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/

Some interesting responses that go right over my head. I honestly can't say if this has any effect on the time aspect of a subs delivery. In the seventies Techniqs (Panasonic) marketed a line of speakers with staggered driver units keeping the driver motors inline with each other. B&W followed with their 800 series.

Going from a single 18" to two 12" subs I changed sub location to the outside of the main speakers and slightly forward of the mains baffle. While the Velodyne EQ plot looked like a smoother starting point I honestly can't speak to any sonic advantage. Looks good though.

Not enough info, as others have said.

Regarding "fast", there is no such thing as "fast" 60hz, or 50hz, or 40hz, etc. They all travel at the speed of sound and have periods (the time for one wavelength) equalling the reciprocal of the frequency.

Many "perceive" speed or lack thereof based on distortion. High second order distortion at lower frequencies is the bane of many loudspeakers and subwoofers. Adjustability is a real plus in a crossover. The key is getting a low distortion subwoofer with a crossover that is steep enough for your main speakers to not have a bump in the upper bass where they overlap, which will also cause you, I think, to say the bass is "slow".

Vapor, I think we're not taking about horns being faster than a diaphragm but high frequency being faster than low.

Timing is timing: if this user is finding the timing is disconnected or does not match his horn loudspeaker it seems that there is a disconnect. I recommended a front firing sub placed forward in the set up if possible works like magic.

Horns are faster in the sense that they can increase both the dynamic range and spl by as much as 5db making them seem faster as they are often more in your face.

Q

Sorry guys, my horn is Cessaro Chopin. Their smallest model. I think it goes down to around 30Hz on paper. I am very happy with most music but not enough for electronic and heavy rock. I had Thiels 3.6 before and I think the Thiels has stronger bass.